Egypt bombs ISIL targets in Libya after mass beheadings

Air strikes carried out hours after armed group released video showing the killing of 21 Egyptian Christians.

Cairo – ArabTelegraph – Egypt’s military has said it carried out air strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in Libya, a day after the group released a video appearing to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians there.

In a statement aired on state television, the military said the attacks were carried out at dawn on Monday.

The attacks focused on ISIL camps, training sites and weapons storage areas across Egypt’s border in Libya, where armed groups have thrived amid chaos, the statement said.

“The air strikes hit their targets precisely, and the falcons of our air forces returned safely to their bases,” the military’s statement said.

“We affirm that avenging Egyptian blood and retaliating against criminals and killers is a duty we must carry out.”

Libyan jets loyal to the official government also took part in the air strikes, an official said on Monday.

“More air strikes will be carried out today and tomorrow in
coordination with Egypt,” commander Saqer al-Joroushi told al-Arabiya television.

Fighters pledging allegiance to ISIL released a video on Sunday purporting to show the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya.

The Egyptian government and the Coptic Church confirmed the authenticity of the footage, which showed the Egyptian workers, all wearing orange jump suits, being beheaded near a waterfront said to be located in the Libyan province of Tripoli.

The men were seized in two attacks in December and January from the coastal town of Sirte in eastern Libya.

Urgent security meeting

In the wake of the video release, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for an urgent meeting of Egypt’s top national security team and declared seven days of mourning.

“Egypt reserves the right to respond in a suitable way and time to punish these murderers,” Sisi said in a televised speech.

France and Egypt on Monday urged the UN Security Council to meet and consider fresh measures against ISIL.

French President Francois Hollande and Sisi spoke by telephone, highlighting “the importance that the Security Council meet and that the international community take new measures” against the spread of ISIL in Libya.

The Coptic Orthodox Church issued a statement saying it was “confident” the killers would be brought to justice.

Al-Azhar, the prestigious Cairo-based seat of Islamic learning, denounced the “barbaric” killings.

“Al-Azhar stresses that such barbaric action has nothing to do with any religion or human values,” it said in a statement.

Libya has slid into chaos after longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed three years ago, as interim authorities failed to confront powerful militias which fought to oust the authoritarian leader.

Taking advantage of the chaos, ISIL has carried out a string of deadly attacks.

The group has released several propaganda videos boasting vows of allegiance from fighters in the country. In October, Ansar al-Sharia in Derna pledged allegiance to ISIL.

Sunday’s video comes less than two weeks after ISIL released a video showing the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot it captured after his plane went down in Syria in December.